not shy of a spark
by piratesmiley
Summary: They should not be having this conversation here.


A/N: Takes place after the first film. I don't own anything, blah blah blah you get it.

* * *

They should not be having this conversation here.

Pepper knew this. There was press everywhere, and no matter what, she had always been the impenetrable wall in between Tony, whatever situation Tony had brought upon himself, and the press.

However, this time _she_ was the situation.

They were on the beach, introducing a new streamlined hydropower system that Pepper couldn't begin to understand, that was going to use water from the ocean as fuel. It wasn't cost effective, but after Iron Man destroyed the city in some ridiculous day-saving fiasco a few weeks back, Stark Industries needed the PR boost. Tony could not give two shits about it anyway (and it was incomprehensible to Pepper that Tony could cast innovate so easily and then cast it aside), but at this moment he was a little extra distracted.

It was her own fault. She shouldn't have said anything. She had been frustrated with Tony already (although when was she _not_). He had stumbled in very early that morning, the suit in shambles, and woke Pepper up from the room she commandeered on the nights that she was too tired to go home to her own place (which was, let's face it, _most nights_). She then relegated JARVIS to painstakingly instructing her, from his databases of knowledge, on how to pull Tony out of the suit piece by piece and take care of his various wounds while the superhero himself cracked wise in between hisses of pain. This went on for _hours_. Pepper was old hat at this nurse business - she couldn't count how many times this he had come home like this - but using the jaws of life to peel back the metal and wire of his suit had taken her role to a whole new level of terrifying.

On some very noble (and very strange) level, Tony decided to take all of this superhero business on and "become responsible." She couldn't expect him to come out of Afghanistan the same way he went in, and in many cases this might be better than the alternative. Plus she was proud of him for being less of a dick. But her nerves were still taking a beating.

So yeah, in the car, while Happy broke the speed limit because they were late (as usual), and Pepper was caking make-up on a massive bruise Tony had gotten slamming his face into the back of the Iron Man mask while Iron Man slammed into some Afghan terrorist, Pepper's frustration got the better of her.

As Happy screeched to a stop at the sand's edge and let them out of the car, Pepper slipped a pair of sunglasses over his face (because the makeup was useless against the yellow-blue-purple) and hissed, "You're going to be the death of me."

She was getting out of the car, slipping her own pair of sunglasses on, and so she couldn't see the dark, unreadable expression that set onto his face until he caught up to her surprisingly quick gait (in four-inch heels, on fucking _sand_).

"_I'm_ going to kill you? _Me_?! Are you kidding me?" He sounded incredibly angry, but she was beyond angry too, and this was one of the places where the professional line blurred, when they were equal in the right to tell each other off. It really was past the point in their relationship (whatever that relationship may be) where he would ever be able to fire her.

"Yes, Tony. _You_ are going to kill me." Her voice dropped down to a whisper as they reached the line of random SI personnel already there and listening to a speech about the wonders of new energy technology. Pepper placed on a fake (although convincing, she thought) smile as the press tittered about their late arrival.

Tony did not take notice to any of this, although thankfully he dropped his voice to a whisper as well. "I'm out there trying to protect you."

She wouldn't face him, continuing to pretend like everything was normal in front of the press. He had given up quickly (if he had ever tried at all), and was completely turned to her.

"Yes, and I'm sure the population of the United States is greatly thankful for your fractional part in making them safer, but—"

"Not them, not the _public_," he hissed. "You, Pepper. I'm trying to protect _you_."

That shut her up for a moment. With Tony it was all ups and downs and she was never completely sure how seriously to take any of his statements.

Tony, conversely, couldn't see her eyes, and it didn't know how far his sentiment was getting. If he looked closely enough, he could always see in her eyes if she was warming up to whatever he was talking about or freezing up. Without thinking about it, he reached up and pulled her sunglasses off. She bristled, but let it happen.

Numbly, she commented, "Nobody's trying to hurt me."

"Then I'm doing a good job."

"No one was trying to hurt me _before_."

"You don't know that."

She stayed silent, breathing deeply to subdue the emotion coiling in her chest. She lifted her hands and tried to pull his sunglasses off, but he dodged her, pushing her hands away. And there again, Pepper noticed the inequality. She was forced to be vulnerable. She tried to disarm him and got nothing.

He continued: "There's a target on your back, you being near me. As soon as there is a threat to your safety, I take care of it."

"Do you have no concern for your own safety? How long do you think you can keep coming back beat to hell like this before one of those injuries sticks?"

"I'm protected. I have the suit."

"Well, sometimes I wish you didn't." She yanked her sunglasses back from his hand but didn't put them on.

"There is absolutely no chance that I will ever stop. Not when it comes to you. " And he was back at the same level of intensity he was that night in the workshop, when she tried to quit and he told her he never would. "Your safety," he corrected himself, but it was too late.

Slowly, she tried again to pull the glasses off his face. He let her.

The look in his eyes was unnerving.

She tries to keep her breathing steady. She needed something to snap him out of this.

"Why don't you just calm the fuck down, okay? You have to give a speech in thirty seconds."

That did the trick. He visibly startled. She almost never swore. Well, out loud.

"Did you just tell me to calm the fuck down?" He didn't sound mad, just incredulous.

"Yes," she said, shifting nervously. Maybe this wasn't the best way to go about this.

He laughed, loud and booming.

Every eye turned to him, as per usual. He had good timing, apparently, because the poor engineer who was doing his introduction just went ahead and called Tony's name. Tony held out his hands for his sunglasses. She fumbled and handed him a pair.

She realized too late that he was slipping on hers. _Whatever_. It would be a trend in less than thirty seconds. She slipped on his Ray-Bans.

(And he went up on stage and gave his charming little speech like nothing had happened. And this argument would live to fight another day, she was certain. Just like the two of them.)


End file.
